Crossing Barriers
by htenywg
Summary: Nine girls, a portal that leads to Redwall and Salamandastron, and another girl that sneaks around. Not to mention landing in the Abbey pond. Rated PG for lotsa swearing...^^ Chapter 2's up!
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys. It's me, htenywg. Mmhm, I took down the From Us To You, and here is the revised version. This chapter was co-written by myself and D, and I swear I'll pass it to you, Pris.   
  
So. Read and enjoy. At least it makes more sense now.   
  
Crossing Barriers  
  
Chapter One  
  
The examinations were over at last. Alethia, Denea, Clarenova, JK, Gia, Jenn, Raen, Sapphi and Estel could finally breathe after months of slogging. Ahead of them were six weeks of holiday and pure heaven before their results and school posting slips were given out.   
  
But perhaps a little background information would be in order here.  
  
The nine girls formed what was known as the TRC. Nobody knew exactly what it stood for, or at least, nobody could remember. In any case, it had been around for so long and had been referred to as such that everyone had stopped asking. It was not anything exclusive or anything, but nobody really knew how they accepted members anyway. But it was just there, and no one questioned its existence.  
  
In reality, the TRC was first formed by Alethia, Denea and Gia, best friends of three years who shared interests like reading, horses and a love for English and Mathematics. All three were rather outcasted because of their vertically challengedness, but they didn't really mind all that much. In the subsequent year, Clarenova, JK and Estel were initiated before Raen, Jenn and Sapphi at the start of the previous year. The nine had stayed this way, close-knit but very diverse, for a whole year. Therefore, the TRC had a history of three years, rather long for a schoolgirls' organization, most of which tended to fall apart in the first to sixth month.  
  
All the girls could be characterized by physical appearance. Clarenova was the most easily identifiable, her hair being in a braid that hung just below her waist. She was tall and was protective of her braid, practically hugging it protectively whenever anyone threatened its length. Estel was quite tall, slightly taller than Clarenova, and very big, almost like a badger. She had short hair and spectacles that she constantly pushed up her nose. JK had slightly frizzy hair, tied back and clipped up with two hairclips at either side of the head. She tended to be slightly blur at times, but she was very athletic, lithe and slim.  
  
Alethia was the shortest of the lot, a fact that nobody hesitated to rub in now and then. Her uncontrollably wavy hair was a cause of great frustration every morning, and she claimed to wake up looking like a lion. She tied her fringe straight back and the rest of her hair was pulled into a ponytail. She wore glasses with a degree in only one eye. Gia was taller than Alethia, but shorter than JK, with a round face and eyes forever blinking behind glasses. Her fringe was also tied up, but her hair was short. Denea was possibly the primmest of all the girls, but also easily the most hot-tempered. She too tied her fringe up, but clipped it to the right, having a right parting. Her dark eyes had a natural thick, black outline, giving her a kind of Egyptian look, but her Oriental features were also thus prominently emphasized.  
  
Sapphi had long hair, tied back into a long, free tail that the girls loved to flick and play with when utterly bored. Her arms were frequently crossed, and she had small eyes that expressed many emotions. Raen was only slightly taller than Alethia (fine, by 10 centimetres) but there was dispute if she was taller than Gia or not. Her hair was in a short, bouncy ponytail as well, bound with a black scrunchie, and occasionally, when she was in the mood, a big black bow. She was dark-skinned with chocolate eyes, and was possibly the most cheeky and mischievous of the girls. And finally, Jenn was possibly the plainest. Normal straight black hair, spectacles, normal face, but she had stayed in a foreign country for the first 7 years of her life and had an accent that she couldn't seem to get rid of.  
  
So much for the girls. Now on with the tale.  
  
So the day was a joyous one for the TRC members. That is, the day of their final examination. The moment it was over, the girls rushed from their various examination rooms to converge in the corridor. Chattering excitedly about this final examination, they waited for Alethia to get out from her classroom.   
  
"Hey, how did you do that question...?"  
  
"The one about Sultan Hussien and Raffles?"  
  
"No, the map one..."  
  
"Oh. Which? The Straits of Johor or MacRitchie reservoir?"  
  
"Crap! You mean it's MacRitchie? I am so dead."  
  
"Yes, look who's finally here!"  
  
Alethia rushed up, panting.  
  
"Sorry guys...the invigilator kept dropping the answer keys. Speaking of answers, was it the Straits of Johor or Singapore?"  
  
"Johor."  
  
"Damn."  
  
Slinging her arm around Estel, who was still nursing her MacRitchie reservoir injury, Clarenova said,"Oh well, it's over. Let's move off, shall we? We're blocking the passageway."  
  
Grinning apologetically, the girls left for the bus stop.  
  
***  
  
"Whee!" The bag was suddenly flung into the air. Jenn caught it deftly by the strap and slung it over her head again. Sapphi started inching away nervously.  
  
"Er...?"  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry! You see, the fact that we're totally FREE! just sunk in," Jenn explained, grinning away happily.  
  
"So, what're you going to do for these few weeks?" Gia asked innocently. Eight shoulders shrugged, almost in unison, in response.   
  
The girls were in a field. They had taken a bus from school all the way down to their haven, a little escape from the hectic and busy world outside. To get there, one only had to walk a fair bit, climb a little, crawl a distance, oh, not to mention jump a bit...before one gets to a fairly large clearing with trees surrounding it, and a rock slab in the centre, flat enough to be used as a sort of table. Queerly enough, the clearing, by some magic or otherwise, was virtually non-existent to adults and the like. So the girls normally used this place to do their homework or to write, as most of them did. Today, however, the girls were lounging around under the shade of a giant rain tree, bags thrown aside, sitting in a circle and passing around a bag of Twisties. As JK crunched on a stick of Twisties, she asked, "Why'd you ask, anyway?"  
  
Alethia, Denea and Gia glanced at each other. After a few rounds of "You tell 'em" "No, you"s, not to mention copious amounts of grinning, Clarenova broke in.  
  
"Will you guys quit fooling around already? In case you forgot, the rest of us exist too, you know. Now just tell us, one of you."  
  
"Fine," Denea beat the others to it. "What say we go into Mossflower again and visit Consellariel, Fey and the others?"  
  
"It's been a long time since we last visited them," Alethia added.  
  
"Besides, we have loads of time ahead of us," quipped Gia.  
  
Estel's eyes widened.  
  
"Oh yes! Why didn't we think of it earlier?" she exclaimed, excited.  
  
Jenn slowly raised her hand, doubtful.  
  
"Er, exactly how do we get there? I mean, Mossflower is just a fictional place in a book, right? It doesn't exist...right?" Sapphi nodded her agreement, looking confused.  
  
"Yeah," Raen put in. "We can't actually go there, right?"  
  
The rest turned to look at Jenn, Raen and Sapphi. Clarenova smacked her forehead.  
  
"We forgot! They've never been there before! They joined the TRC only last year!"  
  
"Aw," JK said. "Don't worry, you'll find out now!"  
  
***  
  
"Now then," Alethia smiled, looking at her watch. "Should we go home and get stuff, or should we just go now?"  
  
"Go now," Estel said decisively. "The stuff we need are always with us, anyway."  
  
Alethia shrugged. "Alright then."   
  
Denea dug deep into her bag and retrieved an ornately carved wooden box. Gia and Alethia followed suit. Clarenova looked around the clearing, looking to all appearances as if she were looking for something, but JK found it first.  
  
"Over here!"   
  
JK was motioning to a small mark on the bark of a tree. Sapphi looked closely at it.  
  
"It looks like a...sword."  
  
"That's the right one."  
  
Denea undid the silver clasp on her box. The others undid that own clasps, Gia struggling for a moment. "ARGH," she muttered. "Damn thing always gets stuck."   
  
Clarenova made a mock bow to Alethia. "Pray, marm, would you do the honours?" She ducked, snickering, as Alethia made a swipe for Clarenova's head. Then, Alethia opened her box. Raen and the other new girls gaped. Nestled deep amidst deep purple velvet were a finely cut amethyst and a small sword-like piece, made of pure gold, with a diamond set in the centre. Alethia removed the goldpiece and fitted it into the marking in the bark. A soft golden mist now surrounded the tree. When a bit of the mist cleared, there was now a door visible in the bark. Alethia removed the goldpiece, and Denea and Gia joined her. They all removed their respective jewels, all cut in slightly different ways. Denea's was a shining sapphire and Gia's was a pink garnet. Their goldpieces were different as well. Denea's had an emerald set in hers, while Gia had a pearl set in hers. Alethia plucked the jewel from her box and placed it into one of the three brackets carved into the living wood of the tree. Denea and Gia filled in the next two brackets. The ground began to rumble and shake. The three hastily stuffed their boxes back into their bags. Sapphi, Jenn and Raen looked positively terrified.   
  
"It's alright," Clarenova reassured them cheerfully. "There was once we had a 9 on the Richter scale."  
  
"Mmhm," Gia grinned. "I think this one will only be a six."  
  
As if confirming Estel's prediction, the stone slab began to revolve, and, it appeared, made the ground shake even more. The slab slowly rose and morphed before their eyes. It had become an arch, smooth and cool to the touch.  
  
"Through this, people!" JK motioned.  
  
"Wait. Salamandastron side or Redwall side?" Gia asked.  
  
"Redwall. I have no wish of seeing my alter ego this soon. Especially if she's found out by now exactly who jammed the lock to the forge." Alethia said, laughing.  
  
The rest laughed, while Jenn and Sapphi looked on with huge eyes. Raen, however, was busy inspecting the arch. There were different runic carvings on either side of the stone arch, written in Loamscript, which the girls had mastered and were now using as their own code to pass notes in school. First learned by Clarenova, it was a must to learn it. Not to mention memorize it. Raen was still rather slow at it. She traced the runes, and slowly read out 'Redwall' on one side of the arch, and 'Salamandastron' on the other. By now, the girls had stopped laughing, and they were trooping over to the 'Redwall' side. Clarenova and Estel grinned at each other and stepped through first, and before disappearing with a loud "Shit!"  
  
JK grasped Raen's arm and nodded, then she let go and they stepped through together. "What the -!"  
  
Following, Sapphi and Jenn made it in with only an "Argh!" apiece. Then the original trio went in, and found the reason for the various expletives. They had landed in the middle of the Abbey pond. Clarenova and Estel were already standing on the bank, wringing out the water from their clothes. Clarenova grumbled, trying to wring the water out of her braid as well.  
  
"That portal is so unpredictable!"  
  
"Oh, quit thy whining will you? You aren't the only one with hair that gives the most drastic results when wet," Alethia grumbled, desperately trying to pull the rubber band out of her now curly hair. And when Alethia's hair curled, it tangled.   
  
"Girls! You're here!"   
  
The splashes had brought the Abbots and Abbesses running to see the commotion.  
  
"Ah, back again, aren't you? You've been long."  
  
"Finally! Come in and dry off!"  
  
"At least it's not like last time, when you landed on the weather-vane."  
  
"I think we have no intention whatsoever to repeat that delightful incident, verbally or otherwise," Denea growled stiffly.  
  
"A whole week out in the infirmary," Gia remarked.  
  
As the group headed inside, Raen, Jenn and Sapphi trailing in after them, looking around with huge eyes, they didn't realise that they had forgotten something. Amidst their joy at the prospect of returning to the Abbey, Alethia, Gia and Denea had forgotten to retrieve the jewels from the brackets. The portal was still open. The arch still stood in the field.  
  
***  
  
Vatrisha crept in. She had followed the girls on the bus, under the pretence of going home. Sniggering slightly, she crept on, following the trail. Now she arrived at the clearing. She saw the arch. Smirking a small, self-satisfied smile, she stepped through the arch. The portal went mad as it sensed a person with dark thoughts in her heart go through it. Vatrisha disappeared.  
  
End of Chapter One.  
  
A/N: Well. It's done! Next chapter: the story of the portal, jewels and goldpieces, their uses, and Alethia, Gia and Denea realise their mistake a tad too late... 


	2. Chapter 2

Crossing Barriers   
  
Chapter 2  
  
Disclaimer: All things recognisable belong to Brian Jacques. Alethia, Denea, Gia, JK, Sapphi, Clarenova, Jenn, Estel and Raen all belong to themselves. Any other characters and plotholes belong to Di, Pris and myself. Squee.   
  
The song of Nimrodel as recited by Clarenova is from the Lord of the Rings. That belongs J.R.R. Tolkien.   
  
The Lady of Shalott was originally spelt 'Shallot' in the poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson. However, in the song by Loreena McKennitt, it is spelt as Shalott. Don't ask me why. VERY NICE SONG! GO DOWNLOAD IT! And while you're at it, go download The Highwayman sung by Loreena McKennitt, put them in a playlist side by side, and go to sleep. It's very effective. Tested and proven by my sis.   
  
Today's the Teachers' Doomsday is a poem written by Clarenova. It belongs to her. Go pester her for it.  
  
Kaleidoscopic Visions was penned by Clarenova, Raen and Jenn, and the melody was written by xue*~, mIrAcLeZ and myself. Yes, there is such a song. It was written by and for our class in school. Squee.   
  
Dedication: Winifred, this is for you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Also to SAA: I caught your hint - I've updated. Happy? Hmph.  
  
As always, credit to humour goes to Pris, the dress idea goes to myself, and thanks to Di for linking everything up so smoothly!  
  
***  
  
Clarenova walked in, hair bundled up in a towel. Immediately, Raen had set herself upon her, tugging at the towel. The other girls grinned and settled back. Clarenova with her hair loose was a rare but pretty sight, as one of their school's rules dictated that all hair touching the shoulder must be tied up.   
  
"Oh, quit trying to see my hair loose already," Clarenova grouched. She had had a hard time with getting it dry. With a final tug, however, the towel came loose, and the girls laughed at an irate Clarenova chasing after a giggling Raen, hair streaming out behind her like a really odd banner.  
  
Alethia walked in, nearly bumping into Raen. She was holding what looked like a bundle of cloth in her arms.  
  
"Hey, Raen," she called out to her friend. "You won't be too happy when you find out what you have to wear to the welcome feast tonight."  
  
Raen paused in mid-run, turned to look at the stack of cloth, and saw the end of a sash peeking out from the pile. By now, Clarenova had stopped chasing her and had trotted back, chuckling. Raen's eyes widened as she backed against the wall.  
  
"Oh, no. Not. A. Dress. No. Nuh-uh."  
  
Alethia's eye gleamed in a most disturbing manner.  
  
"Yes, a dress. And guess what? The only one that fits you..." She carefully pulled one out of the stack and turned back to the pale Raen and continued. "...is in pink."  
  
The girls laughed as Raen buried her face in her hands, groaning.  
  
***  
  
"I'll swap with someone. Please, Denea? I don't mind wearing a smaller dress as long as it isn't pink...please?"  
  
Raen's voice had been taking on a desperate tone for the past few minutes. She was standing in the middle of the dormitory that the girls had to share, wearing the pink dress, a look of utter revolt and disgust painted on her face.  
  
Denea, on the other hand, looked positively evil.  
  
"No way, Raen, you can languish in that dress."  
  
The girls laughed as Raen glared daggers at Denea. Sapphi however, was busy counting the dresses, flipping them around and counting them again. She looked up, a puzzled look on her face.  
  
"They're only two more dresses in this stack. What will the other people be wearing then?"  
  
The other six exchanged quick grins.  
  
"You see, after our first experience," Denea said, looking at Gia.  
  
"We learnt our lesson," Gia continued.  
  
"Therefore, the next time we came, we warned the others and brought our own clothes," Alethia finished.  
  
Raen scowled. "WHY didn't you tell Sapphi, Jenn and myself then?"  
  
Embarrassed looks appeared all round.   
  
"We forgot..."  
  
Jenn interrupted before Raen could murder somebody with her glare. "Besides, Raen, they didn't tell us, remember?" Turning to the rest, she asked," So...what do you wear? I didn't see you bring any clothes this time."  
  
JK turned to the chest of drawers next to the three-tiered bunk bed. "See, six drawers. Though we'll have to build three more though," She opened one of the drawers and drew out a plain, white blouse and a beige skirt. The rest pulled out similar articles of clothing, except they were all in different colours.  
  
"Unfortunately," Estel said, "We have to at least wear a skirt for feasts. Other days, we can wear breeches, tunics, even habits, if you want. No jeans though. It doesn't exist here. And you know the general fantasy book rule of never introducing a new item into an alternate universe, right? Well, that applies here as well."  
  
Jenn, Sapphi and Raen nodded, the latter somewhat sulkily. She herself was a big fan of fantasy stories, so she understood the logic behind it, but it didn't mean that she was happy with wearing a dress. Just then, Abbess Vale knocked on the door and entered.   
  
"I trust you are all safe and dry?" She quipped. The girls, who had gotten up, nodded and smiled.  
  
"Well, I just came up here to tell you that the feast begins in about an hour. You might want to get ready." Smiling, she left.  
  
Picking up a lavender dress, Jenn tossed Sapphi a pale blue dress. The others picked up their sets of clothing and went off to change. Raen sat down on the bed and tugged at her dress, grumbling. Then her eye caught something spilling out of one of the satchels flung onto the middle bunk bed. Her mischievous nature took over and she tugged at it. What came out was a notebook without a cover with scotch tape all over the binding. All over the cover were threats and warnings, but Raen had never been known to abide any rules, anyway. As she started to flip the page, though, Alethia, who changed the fastest (there were some good things on being the smallest), walked in, saw Raen and promptly snatched the book away.  
  
Raen blinked.  
  
Alethia growled, eyes flashing, "Raen, don't you DARE touch my property without my permission ever again. I can't tell you what is in this notebook for now, but let's just say that you are better off not knowing. Do you hear me?"  
  
Raen meekly nodded. Alethia in an angry mood was not to be trifled with. Alethia sighed and apologised. "I'm sorry...I know I shouldn't have lost my temper, but you really should stop that." Raen nodded apologetically. Her interest was piqued, though...  
  
When the other girls returned, they all went out into the hallway and proceeded to go down the steps, only to bump into Rollo.  
  
"Muvver Abbess wanna you come down naow!" he said, his head to one side. As the girls smiled and nodded, he blinked innocently up at Raen and said, "Pwetty pink dwess! Rollo likes pwetty dwess!"  
  
As the girls fell about laughing at the comical sight Rollo and Raen made staring at each other, one in angelic cuteness and the other in indignation, Raen said, "Well, then you can bloody HAVE it!" She folded her arms and grumpily went on down the stairs. The other girls followed, practically falling all over each other, laughing so hard they were.  
  
Estel couldn't resist. She bent down and ruffled Rollo's ears, laughing, "Well said, Rollo, well said!"  
  
***  
  
Denea, Gia and Alethia sat together in a quieter corner of Cavern Hall. The feast had started with a speech from the Abbots and Abbesses welcoming the girls back to Redwall, and had been followed with grace, before a truly scrumptious feast. The many timelines of goodmice had put their culinary skills together, to create dish after dish of almost any food imaginable. Fish, pasties, stews, soups, puddings, pies...all were tasty and unforgettable. And the drinks to accompany the food! Cordials of the different fruits found in the orchard; pear, strawberry, cherry...not to mention mint tea for those who preferred mild beverage, and fizzy drinks that popped and bubbled for the little Dibbuns and the girls, who giggled as the drinks tickled their stomachs. And October Ale! If a single cellar keeper could normally keep October Ale very well, imagine if all the cellar keepers came together! Naturally, the feast's Ale was only outshone by the hedgehogs' blushing cheeks as praises were heaped one by one on them.  
  
During the feast, much laughter and bantering had ensued. The hares had decided to compete against the moles to see who could scoff the most deeper 'n' ever pie. It nearly broke the moles' hearts to see their creation being eaten at such a fast pace instead of being savoured, but being trencher beasts, they ate sturdily on. The girls had heaped mounds of food on Raen, Sapphi and Jenn, telling them to eat this, sample that and overall just to try everything they could. On their part, the trio stared at everything on their plates, not knowing where to start. Finally, they attacked the top first. Their facial expressions were almost comical as they tried each dish. First they tasted every new food in a tentative manner, then their eyes slowly widened, before taking a larger bite or sip. Such was the extent of the food's delicacy.   
  
But after the majority of the population at Redwall was more or less done with the feast, the songs, limericks, recitations, dancing and general merrymaking started. Clarenova had gotten up to recite the sad song of Nimrodel, enchanting all there with her voice that rose and fell. Cheers and clapping ensued as she finished the song. After which, the Abbess Song requested that the girls all participate. After a period of prodding and poking each other, Denea went up and sang the tragic song The Lady of Shalott in a truly haunting manner. Some of the Dibbuns whimpered as the last words trailed away, but the various Mother Badgers quickly shushed them. Then Estel, Gia and Raen put up a recitation of a rather violent but hilarious poem entitled 'Today's the Teachers' Doomsday' that had everyone in stitches. Saxtus was laughing so hard; he had to grab the table to keep from slipping off his chair. Jenn, Sapphi and Alethia then sang a sad but hopeful song, Kaleidoscopic Visions, Alethia providing the harmonics as Jenn and Sapphi's voices rose and ebbed away. Skipper of otters could be seen pawing away tears as the words and meaning got to him. JK claimed that she had no talents, but as a band of beasts performed a lively jig that had everyone's paws tapping, she was pushed up to join the group of lively dancers at the centre of Cavern Hall, spinning, dancing and whirling. There, she had no choice but to join in or be trampled underfoot. As the song ended, the beasts (and JK, although she later denied it) demanded another song, and it had just gone on and on.  
  
It had been a good half an hour since then. Feeling slightly claustrophobic sitting in the middle of a noisy crowd, Alethia, Gia and Denea were slightly apart from the rest, laughing and talking as they watched Clarenova, Estel and Jenn chat with the otters. Raen had grown fidgety and sulky again, the hyperactivity from before dissipating away. Suddenly, Clarenova called out to the trio in the corner.  
  
"Long Patrol's coming in a few days!"   
  
"Wonderful! Whose?" Denea asked.  
  
There was a slight pause as Clarenova clarified with Skipper.  
  
"Perigord's, Skipper says. Oh, and Consellariel took leave to come as well. They have enough badgers up at the mountain."  
  
Alethia squirmed uncomfortably. Uh oh. Her alter ego was coming.  
  
***  
  
"Ow!"  
  
Vatrisha landed with a thump on the ground. She stared at her surroundings, at the leafy canopy above her, and the solid tree trunks around her. She was somewhere...in the woods.  
  
She got up, rubbing at her sore rump and started out through the trees. She figured that that was better than just sitting around, waiting for hypothermia to set in. Ok, maybe she was going slightly paranoid and hysterical, but she really didn't want to be any wetter than she was already.   
  
Just then, she heard voices.   
  
"Perigord, how much farther do we have to travel before we reach Redwall?"  
  
"Er, nary another day, m'lady, wot. As it is, we're nearly there. Would y' rather stop for a bite of tuck or carry on?"   
  
"Don't you put on those noble airs. I know what you hares are like. We're stopping for lunch, right here, actually."  
  
"Right, m'lady. I'll just nip to the back to alert the rest." Vatrisha could hear a barely concealed grin. Redwall...was that where she was now? No, she mentally berated herself. If they were talking about getting to Redwall, it would be impossible that they were at Redwall. This could only mean that she was in Mossflower woods, not a day's journey away from Redwall. She decided to join them. Redwall sounded like a good place to stay before trying to find the girls to spoil their fun. Besides, she was getting really hungry and lonely. Slowly, she moved through the trees, putting on a lost expression on her face. She even staggered a little.   
  
Twayblade was pulling out the tuck from her pack when she heard something. Spinning around, she saw the bushes rustle and a girl came out from them, looking lost, tired and hungry. Immediately, she alerted Consellariel.   
  
"M'lady, another girl headed our way..."  
  
  
  
Consellariel raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well, go invite her here, then. She must know the other girls if she is here..."  
  
Twayblade nodded. She trotted over to the solitary girl, and placed a welcoming paw at her shoulder. She enquired, "Well, hello, wot wot! Fancy seeing a girl here, in the middle of he bloomin' forest. Care to join us for a bite and a sup? You look as if you need it."  
  
The girl looked up, her eyes expressing gratefulness.  
  
"My thanks. I don't know how I got here. I was following a few of my friends through a portal when I suddenly landed here. Could you bring me someplace where I might rest before continuing my search for them?"  
  
At this moment, Twayblade had led her back to the rest. Perigord had heard the last half of her explanation and shook his head, saying, "No need for that m'gel. If you're looking only for a place to stop at, we can bring you to Redwall as well. That's where we're going. But if you're thinking of looking for your friends, no doubt the other girls, well, your search ends there. They are there, and that's why we're going to Redwall!"  
  
***  
  
The feast was over. Everyone had returned to the dormitories to turn in, but the girls were rather bored. So, they stayed up to well, basically chat.   
  
Suddenly, Sapphi asked the million-dollar question. "How did the portal come about?"  
  
"Heh. Now that's an interesting story." Alethia said.  
  
Denea nodded. "Quite. Well, the three of us, Gia, Alethia and myself, had discovered the clearing in our own world for the first time. When we got there for the first time, we discovered a book on then stone slab, along with the jewel-boxes. The book was very old and tattered, and we began to read it, curious. It told of many strange things, and after a while, we realised that it told the story of another world."  
  
Gia continued. "A short time later, we realised that this other world was actually Redwall. We later discovered instructions as to how to get to Redwall, using the jewel-boxes and the goldpieces. For some odd reason, however, only Alethia's goldpiece works. The rest simply don't."  
  
Alethia grinned. "Yup. That means that you can only get here if I'm around." She ducked as pillows were aimed at her head. But she stopped laughing to continue "But as to why only my goldpiece works, well, we came up with the idea that the clearing is merely a portal to lead to Redwall, and my goldpiece is the key. Perhaps there are other places that lead to other places, and then either Denea's or Gia's would work, but not mine."  
  
Raen raised a tentative hand. "May we have another look at the jewels? It's just that they were really, really beautiful..."  
  
They shrugged and removed the boxes from their respective bags. Strange, Gia thought. I don't remember the box being this light...  
  
Moments later, they were all scrambling to the pond. In went the goldpiece and out again. The girls retrieved their jewels and the portal standing at the clearing crumbled to a stone slab.  
  
"Whew. That was close," Denea said.  
  
"In any case, we're safe now," Gia replied.  
  
Or were they...?  
  
End of Chapter Two.  
  
A/N: Oh squee. Cliffies. Like it's even a proper cliffhanger. Next chapter? I don't know either. Wait for a long while. Sayonara, minna! Chapter Three will come the moment I'm done with it (duh). 


	3. Chapter 3

Crossing Barriers  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Brother Hubert had been in the middle of a text when there was a knocking on the gate. So engrossed in the text was he that he almost didn't hear it. But when knocking turns into heavy banging, even the thickest of rocks will have to respond. So Brother Hubert carefully set the text down, and head still spinning from the intriguing text, went to open the gate.  
  
Consellariel stopped thudding the wooden gate with her paw when she suddenly found that it had gone slightly away from her. As Brother Hubert's head poked through, she barely concealed a smile, realising that he had probably been in the middle of an interesting text.  
  
"Brother Hubert," she said gruffly, brows drawn together. "You took an awfully long time to open this gate. Why, my patrol and I must have had stood here for a longer time than we took marching here!"  
  
So distracted was Brother Hubert by the disturbing thoughts of the text that he failed to realise that Lady Consellariel of Salamandastron, to give the badger her full title, was only joking.  
  
"I'm sorry marm...I was too heavily absorbed in a text," Hubert spluttered.   
  
Consellariel grinned. "I was only kidding, my friend. Now are you just going to let us in...?"  
  
Barely a few minutes later, a gasp rang out in Cavern Hole, where the girls and the Abbots and Abbesses had stayed back after breakfast. Alethia buried her face in her hands.   
  
"Damn," Clarenova said, very quietly, but still extremely vehemently. "Vatrisha's here."   
  
Denea spun around. "What?!"  
  
"Ooh, just LOOK at that smug look on her face!"  
  
"I thought we managed to throw her off all those months ago?"  
  
"Oh dear. Oh crap. Oh frell."  
  
By this time, all the girls were either groaning, shaking their heads, or both. Clarenova was gently knocking her head on the table. Abbess Song gently asked, "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing," Estel groaned, getting up to leave. "Guys, I think we better go. If you'll excuse us, Father Abbots, Mother Abbesses..."  
  
The girls trooped out of Cavern Hole, avoiding Vatrisha like she was the plague. The Long Patrol took their places, and invited Vatrisha to sit with them.   
  
"Well, it's good to see you again! We had heard that you were coming along, but we weren't sure that it would be this soon. So, where's Lady Consellariel? And who is this girl?"   
  
Tare grinned. "This is Vatrisha. She says she knows the bally girls, wot! We met here on our way 'ere, so we brought her along for the journey. As for the Lady, well, she's waiting for her friend Alethia upstairs." He suddenly laughed. "You might want to break out the poultices and bandages by the time our Lady's done with Alethia, wot!"  
  
As they sat there, Vatrisha slowly edged away. Now that she was at Redwall, there was no need to always stick to the Long Patrol. Besides, now would be the perfect time to approach the girls who had always tried to avoid her.  
  
***  
  
The girls trooped into their dormitory, shaking their heads in despair and muttering to themselves. Just then, a sixth sense told Alethia to look up. When she did, she suddenly started trying to wriggle her way back out of the dormitory.  
  
"Er, 'scuse me, lemme out please..."  
  
Consellariel got up from the chair in the corner.  
  
"Why," she said pleasantly. "How nice to see you, girls. Especially you, Alethia."   
  
Knowing that it was now impossible to get out, Alethia gave up and faced Consellariel, grinning weakly, Vatrisha forgotten.  
  
"Uh, hi, Consellariel...nice weather, isn't it?"  
  
The badger nodded in agreement.   
  
"Oh yes, it is definitely much better than the last time you came. It was so misty that some of the water vapour got into the mountain. Do you know, it managed to rust the forge door shut? And there I was, thinking it was jammed." An evil gleam entered the Lady's eyes.  
  
"Er, yeah..." Alethia fidgeted. In her mind's eye, she remembered personally jamming up the bolt and lock of the forge door before opening the portal so they could all return back to their own world.  
  
The Lady leaned closer. "I don't suppose you might know how come I discovered a chunk of hardened molten iron in the lock and resin and pitch around the bolt and the hinges?"  
  
Alethia looked sheepish. "Er heh heh heh...well, you DID purposely loosen the bolts of my swords just so I wouldn't go out to fight!"  
  
Consellariel raised her eyebrows. "Well, that was for your own safety! Your shoulder was still stiff but yet you still insisted on going after Garven. I was merely concerned for you. Hmph!"  
  
"Oh well. It is over. I'm sorry for jamming your forge door...but the temptation was too great to resist!"  
  
They grinned at each other.   
  
"I had better be going. If not, the Long Patrol might start taking apart the bricks of Redwall to sate their appetite."  
  
The badger lumbered out of the door. The new girls looked over, confused about what they had just seen. Alethia sighed.   
  
"Evidently, the person whose goldpiece that allows entrance to the other universe also gets an extra, random alter ego. Mine's Consellariel, and we understand each other really well."  
  
"I see. That would explain that interesting exchange, then," The girls whirled around, only to see a smirking Vatrisha leaning against the doorframe. Her pathetic and helpless air that had let her be taken in by the Long Patrol was gone, and in its place was a smug effervescence.   
  
"Oh, yes. That reminds me. What are you doing here?" Denea asked coldly.  
  
"I followed you in. Of course, your puny brains forgot to close the portal. How could I let all you people have all the post-exam fun without me?"  
  
"Why don't you just shut up and go somewhere else already? Your very presence makes me rash, you wretched thing. Stop following us. We can send you home, and you know we can, and will," Alethia growled  
  
"Ah, but I don't want to. I just want to have some fun. Why can't you just let me join you in the name of fun?" Vatrisha whined.  
  
"Fun? Fun? FUN? Don't talk to us about fun, Vatrisha. The last few times you said that, you ended up getting us into trouble," Estel butted in.   
  
"Exactly," JK sighed. "But since you're here, and we can't exactly force you to go back, I don't suppose we can do anything about your presence. Just stay out of our way, ok?"  
  
"Sure!" Vatrisha said happily. The thoughts in her mind, however, were rather different.   
  
Stay out of your way? Of course I wouldn't. Not after what you did to me last year, made me the ridicule of the class. I've managed to make your lives utter misery, and I'm not going to stop.  
  
***  
  
Later that night, a candle burned in the girls' room, covered with a special contraption of theirs, that they had dubbed 'candlecover'. It consisted of stiff wire, stiff cloth and rods of wood. Basically, it dimmed the light a little, so that the person reading or writing by the light would not affect the other girls' sleep. Denea, Gia and Alethia sat on the wide, cushioned window-ledge that served as a seat. Denea had her ever-present supply of pencils and her sketchbook out, while Alethia was polishing her dagger, which she had re-discovered in her drawer, albeit a bit dusty and very blunt. Gia was simply staring out of the window, lost in her thoughts. The rest of the girls were asleep, worn out, curled either in the three bunk beds or the makeshift pallets that the four new girls had to use until the new bunk beds were constructed. Unable to get rid of Vatrisha, she was also in the room.   
  
Gia sighed, and Alethia and Denea looked up from their separate tasks.  
  
"What's the matter?" Denea questioned.  
  
Gia's brow creased. "Mortimer told me something disturbing. According to him, trouble might be springing up again."  
  
"When was this?"  
  
"I had gone down to pick up a stack of parchment from the gatehouse and he was on guardhouse duty. Curious, I asked him since when there had been guardhouse duty, and he replied that the guardhouse keepers and the Abbots and Abbesses suspected trouble was about, so they had decided to post a sentry every night."  
  
The other two grew grave. Denea put her pencils down and Alethia's vigorous rubbing slowed down.  
  
"Did he give any details?" Alethia asked.  
  
"Mmhm. Scouts from the mountain have verified that all the enemies from the past are regrouping. This time, the wildcat Trunn has joined forces with Tsarmina, Badrang, Clogg and the Rapscallions."  
  
"Any reason why?"  
  
"Not really. But Brother Hubert suspects that this might have something to do with why the Redwallers from seasons gone are all returning, along with the various badgers and other inhabitants of Mossflower."  
  
"Hm. That is rather intriguing...but back to the enemy - what is the status on them?" Denea asked in a low voice.  
  
Gia shook her head. "Bad. Horribly so. Only those few are confirmed, because they have been seen flitting around the fringes of Mossflower nearer to Salamandastron. But there are a lot more that have not been identified.  
  
"There will be a full-scale attack then," Alethia remarked, her voice flippant, but brow furrowed.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Garn..." Denea cursed softly.  
  
"We should help. We can always start by estimating how many there are on both sides..."  
  
They got down to it, conversing quietly late into the night.  
  
***  
  
Morning found the trio asleep on the window ledge seat. Between them lay a scrap of parchment. On it, written in Denea's neat and tidy hand, with a quill she had scrounged from somewhere was a rough estimate of the enemy and all about them that Gia had gotten off Mortimer. Across a line drawn down the middle of the page were the figures for the defenders. Careful not to awaken them, Clarenova whisked away the parchment from under them. She swore colourfully as she sped-read the list.  
  
Estel clamped her large hand over Clarenova's dirty mouth before she and the others dragged her (and the parchment) out by the braid. Once safely down in the orchard, they gathered round to read:  
  
Trunn - Blue Hordes - 10 000  
  
Warfang - Rapscallions - 1000  
  
Tsarmina - Kotir soldiers - 500  
  
Badrang -Marshank soldiers - 500  
  
Clogg - searats - about 50 ships, 2 score half each; 2500  
  
Marlfoxes - 12  
  
Water rats under Marlfoxes - 150  
  
Redwall - Redwallers: approximating 100 per book, 14 000  
  
Salamandastron: -   
  
Badgers - saying 1 Lady/Lord per 30 seasons, approximately 25, probably less  
  
Hares - saying 160 under each Lord/Lady, at least 4000  
  
TRC - 9 girls. [insert by Alethia: fast learners and very dangerous when roused, though. :D]   
  
The six gathered at the orchard stared at the paper in horror. JK said, very quietly, "This is going to be extreme." Estel did not even try to stop Clarenova this time as she let out another stream of creative language.  
  
***  
  
The three in the bedroom heard Clarenova's clarion voice showing off the less desirable parts of her vocabulary, and they got up groggily.   
  
"Gosh, what's got her going again? Waking up to a whole list of swear words isn't very nice unless I'm absolutely certain they're not directed at me..." Alethia's voice trailed off as she stared at the empty spot where the parchment had been. The other two caught on soon.  
  
"Well," Gia said conversationally. "Are we going to cut off their heads, or just, you know, throttle them to death?"  
  
"Oh, I think we'll just permanently lame them." Denea replied breezily.  
  
"Cut it out, guys," Alethia sighed. "At least we're spared the pain of having to tell them."  
  
The other two sobered. They had wondered the previous night and the early morning as to how they were going to break the news to them. JK, Estel and Clarenova dearly loved Redwall, and Raen, Jenn and Sapphi had adored what they had read. After a bit, they trooped down to the orchard to confront the rest.  
  
A/N: I AM BACK!!! I'm so sorry guys...the last time I updated was... er... very long ago. Around half a year, as my friends would kindly remind me.   
  
Next up! I don't know either. 


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